


Surrender

by shadoedseptmbr



Series: L'essai Et Repose [16]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Normandy-SR2, Post-Horizon (Mass Effect), Post-Mass Effect 2: Arrival, between game fill, relationship on hiatus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:14:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26633431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadoedseptmbr/pseuds/shadoedseptmbr
Summary: Shepard's surrender of the Normandy SR-2 makes galactic news.
Relationships: Kaidan Alenko/Female Shepard
Series: L'essai Et Repose [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1937545
Comments: 6
Kudos: 25





	Surrender

The news feed next to the gift shop crackles as he walks through Zakera on the way from the noodle bar to his cab. Kaidan turns his head as the now familiar voice of Emily Wong cuts through the busy hum of the ward. There’s something about her tone; she sounds urgent and insistent instead of the peppy, smooth delivery she’s known for. 

But it’s that _name_. The name is what stops him and makes him press forward to stand in front of the display. 

“... Shepard surrendered herself to Systems Alliance authorities this morning. Commander Shepard, believed to have died in 2185 during a battle with an unknown race in the Terminus Systems, has been seen on the Citadel and Omega station by several reputable witnesses. The Alliance soldier, and only Human SPECTRE, frequently called the Hero of the Skyllian Blitz, has been accused of working with Cerberus, a human terrorist organization and implicated in several incidents in the last six months, most notably appearing after suspected attacks on Human colonies. Most recently, the Batarian Hegemony claimed she was responsible for the death of over 300,000 Batarian colonists in the Aratoht system when the Relay was destroyed by an asteroid impact.” 

There are others gathering around him, but Kaidan has shut out everything but the screen in front of him. Blood rushing in his ears drowns out the rising murmur of the crowd. 

Video footage rolls while Emily continues to speak. The Normandy SR2, still flying Cerberus colors, is settled in dock at Arcturus Station according to the scroll. The crowd on the landing pad, filled with blurred Alliance uniforms and human faces, parts to reveal a squad of Alliance Marines in full gear, assault weapons in ready position. The first fire team spreads out in formation. The team leader smacks the holo on the airlock and stands back. 

Kaidan can imagine the secondary door opening as the team leader tenses. It’s a decade of training and observation that allows him enough insight to register the Marine’s sudden surprise. They stay ready but something is...not what they expected.  
The Marine steps back while their squad clears room on the pad, several of them with weapons out, keeping watch on the locals. 

Aedan Shepard steps cautiously out of the airlock and into view, eyes scanning the crowd. She isn’t wearing armor. She isn’t wearing Cerberus gear. She isn’t obviously armed. She’s dressed in a simple fitted black long sleeved shirt, maybe the undershirt for whatever ship uniform Cerberus issued, and black and grey tac pants. Her boots are polished to a mirror shine that even the crappy extranet cameras can pick up. 

She lifts her chin and directs her words to the Marine. “Sergeant, I’m Aedan Shepard. I’m here to place myself, this ship, and crew into Alliance custody.” Her voice is steady and pitched just perfectly to ring out but not seem aggressive. She’s got her eyes on the team leader, but her head tilts slightly to the left as if she’s listening to someone just behind her. “We are disarmed and the armory is sealed. My pilot is waiting in the airlock to show you aboard and the crew is waiting on the shuttle deck.” Her gaze never leaves the Marine in front of her. Kaidan's eyes are fixed on her face. The glowing scars that had made him so sure that he'd been right to turn his back on whoever it was wearing Shepard's skin had vanished. 

_This_ Shepard is someone Kaidan knows well. The full Brass on Deck, Hero of the Blitz, Savior of the Citadel posture that she pulls on as easily as she changes her socks. Makes her look a foot taller, her shoulders as broad as the horizon. She might as well be encased in her armor and a barrier for all the shouted questions, accusations, and exclamations from the growing crowd just seem to bounce off. 

Kaidan winces, though, when someone screeches, “Traitor!” 

One camera slides in at just the right angle to catch those famous steel grey eyes and the freckles on her nose he tries to ignore remembering. There isn’t a flicker of doubt or hesitation in their depths but the skin around them is bruised and tired. “Only request is that we are in danger of Cerberus taking exception to this surrender of their expensive cruiser. Might want coverage, Sergeant.” 

There’s movement of one of the other squads, more overtly quartering the crowd, now. 

“Covered.” They clear their throat and declare formally, “Aedan Shepard, I accept your surrender on behalf of the Systems Alliance. Place your hands on your head, Shepard.” 

She nods to the team leader and lifts her hands smoothly but slowly to her head, flattening her dark copper red curls. She’s just had a trim, the edges of her short hair are crisp around her ears. When prompted, Shepard makes a careful spin as two of the squad flank her; the other member of the leader’s team kneeling just to the side, weapon ready. 

“If you’re doing a tech scan, I’ve got cybernetics repairing the damage I took when the SR1 went down. Most of it shows up in my spinal column and right arm. I can’t shut it off.” Is that regret in her voice, there? Kaidan doesn’t know if he’s imagining it or not.  
The tech head gives a nod to the team leader as she runs the scan to acknowledge that she sees what Shepard is referencing. 

Kaidan expects a pat down. So does Shepard, apparently. A shake of the tech’s head answers a quiet question the camera doesn’t catch. Team leader answers louder. “No, ma’am. We’ll take you elsewhere for inspection.” 

_Ma’am_. Someone respects how careful Shepard’s being. It's one of her less publicized gifts, the way she can bend people's perceptions of her around from hostility to admiration in minutes. Kaidan can attest to his own weakness, anyway. 

“Thank you, Sergeant” 

“Do have to cuff you, though.” 

“Of course.” Her hands move slowly and steadily again to her shoulders then down behind her back, wrists out. Aedan had mentioned, once when they were sharing stories, she’d been arrested as a teenager. She certainly seems to know the drill. 

The flanking team member produces the cuffs and cinches them tight around Shepard’s pale wrists. Kaidan doesn’t know if anyone else would catch the intake of breath, but he sees her nostrils flare and her mouth twist - just a bit. She isn’t wearing makeup and her red gold lashes flutter shut for just a second. His heart lurches. She isn’t hurt, he thinks. She wouldn’t show that. Pain is normal. 

This? This is just...hard. 

She answers another question, pitched too low for the microphone. Probably a number, most likely crew complement. Garrus had been with her on Horizon. He’d heard Joker commenting as he’d walked away from her. _Her pilot_ Who else? 

Another squad rotates in, prepping to board the ship. Shepard’s flanked again, ready for escort between the other two teams of the squad who forming a watch column, holding the crowd off. 

The sergeant pauses to make an announcement. “Please disperse. There will be a briefing at HQ this afternoon for members of the press.” 

They roll out, Shepard falling into step with no hesitation. 

The camera flashes back to Emily Wong. “The Normandy SR2 has a current complement of 15 human crew, all of whom surrendered without incident.” 

Current. _Human_. Those are definitely interesting word choices, Kaidan thinks. He had an email from Liara before Shepard returned, and he wonders suddenly if she’s still checking the Illium address she’d given him the last time they spoke. She’d know if anyone else from the SR-1 had joined up. 

“Please stand by for the announced press conference. Alliance has set the time for 1400 hours, Galactic Standard.” 

Another announcer- Turian this time- appears as the camera angle widens to show the whole desk. “Emily, you’ve interviewed Commander Shepard, most notably after the Geth invasion of the Citadel where she was responsible for saving the lives of the Council. What’s your opinion? Is this her?” 

“As far as I can tell, Delos, it is the same Commander Aedan Shepard that I interviewed in 2185.” Emily turns back to the camera. “I can reveal now that I did another interview with her, hours before her surrender. Commander Shepard could recall some sensitive information she helped me uncover during her Spectre investigation and as far as I know, her involvement was not widely known. While we’re holding footage out of courtesy until it’s cleared by the Alliance, Commander Shepard wanted it made plain that she is surrendering now because she understands the seriousness of the charges against her. She claims to have information vital to the safety of the galaxy that she has been trying to get to authorities. She also made the claim that she attempted to relinquish this Normandy to the Alliance, seven months ago but was turned away.” 

Emily turns back to her colleague, for a scripted aside. “By the way, Delos, that date coincides with the first appearance of the Normandy SR-2 in Council Space, at the Citadel.” 

The Turian’s mandibles flare in what Kaidan recognizes as well-bred, but feigned shock. “Well, that is quite interesting. We’ll have to see what the Alliance has to say about that when questioned by our ANN Arcturus reporter, Mika Selanis, in the next hour. Next up, a review of recent developments in the investigation into the destruction of a mech facility on...” 

The crowd around Kaidan is thinning but his eyes are fixed on the footage still rolling behind the reporters; Shepard’s dark, small, square-shouldered figure surrounded by shimmering blue armor before they disappear behind the gunmetal doors of Arcturus Station. 


End file.
